


Alchemia Story: The Journey for Us

by Evarace



Category: Alchemia Story
Genre: M/M, MC is Ev, YOME is Shikuro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23482336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evarace/pseuds/Evarace
Summary: A world where magic meets alchemy.It's the eve of the Industrial Revolution."Humans" gathered in the city to avoid "Mamonos".The young must go on an adventure.The Heroes departed on a journey to defeat "Maou" around the world.And to find where they belong...
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Prologue

"Ev-kun!"

Ev, yes, that is my name. Let me give you a proper introduction of myself - My name is Ev Alcs.

"Wake up sleepyhead!"

And right now, I am laying on my bed with my head burying on the pillow with bliss, ignoring the voice that has pulled my consciousness back to the surface, and yet I have no plans on letting myself rise up.

"I'm still tired." Ev yawned as he heard someone huffed. Perhaps annoyed or amused or mix of both.

"Alright then..."

Steps away.

Silence enter.

The voice must've given up. Ah yes, the sweet paradise- Eh?

The sounds of curtain being pulled away with the light passed through glass pane of the window as it, conveniently, shined to his face. Ev tried to cover up with his blanket, but alas, he's already awake when he finally opened his eyes, squinted from the hell ray of the sun.

"Good morning! The day has just begun. Time to get up!" Ev sighed. That chipper voice. His view gained its clarity after rubbing his eyes to find a guy smiled down at him.

Spiky white-as-snow hair? Check.

Right charcoal-colored eye and left silver-colored eye? Two checks.

And that bright smile? Definitely check.

"Shikuro-kun, please, it's still early." Ev whined, yet he sat up and let out a loud yawn.

"Actually it's already six, so more like late than early," Shikuro grinned and Ev groaned.

And who proposed wake up before six? That would be me, and I am starting to regret it... Actually, I regretted it since high school, so that ship has sailed.

"I know, I know," Ev pushed off his blanket from him, and positioned himself as his legs were by the edge at the side of his bed, "is it too late to change that proposal?"

Shikuro gave out a small laugh, "here's your favorite hot caffé mocha." And with a nice whiff, it is enough to energized Ev. His squinted eyes have been wide open and took the mug painstakingly while smiling back to the other man.

"Thank you very much." Ev sipped quietly. Shikuro decided to sit next to Ev on the bed as he swayed his legs. Both couldn't help but noticed things around them.

The room seemed cozy enough as the sun welcomed itself down through the window, revealed the scattered dusts around. The clock is still ticking as it took over the supposedly silence together with the muffled chatters outside. The aroma of the sweet hot caffé mocha had danced around the whole room with its sweetness and bitterness as the hand of the smooth porcelain was held on by another hand.

It is nice.

With the last gulp, Ev returned the mug back to Shikuro with silent compliance. The latter decided to break the silence, "Ena-san is waiting for us on the tavern, I hope you didn't forget that we accepted the quest."

"I am little hurt that you thought I forgot." Despite his words, Ev is just teasing him, and in return, Shikuro rolled his eyes.

"Well, you forgot that you said that you'll always wake up around six."

"It was ten years ago!"

"And yet you haven't take it back during those years."

"I did say that you're supposed to wake me up when I'm being stubborn," Ev ruffled his unkempt long raven hair, "and well..."

"It's a lifetime proposal." Shikuro ended his sentence for him, and Ev sighed in defeat and knew Shikuro already won since last decade.

"Yes, it is..."

Shikuro stood up with the mug being clutched on, "now take a bath and change to your uniform."

"Yes mom~!" Ev grinned and Shikuro groaned.

\--- AS ---

After Ev buttoned his clothes up and buckled up his empty satchel, he looked at the mirror. The right crimson and the left navy eyes were both staring back to him as he tied up his black hair to a ponytail and saw the familiar silver earrings on the left ear.

He smiled. Nothing changed on him.

Oh right, and also the sword, the replica of Rizuvot, is in his sheath.

"For those who have become adults, they must make their own journey. In this world, you must be strong to survive." The voice echoed in his mind.

"Be strong to survive, huh?" Ev gripped the handle of the sword before he exited the room to see Shikuro, who was already dressed up, waited for him.

"Our first quest! I wonder what is it gonna be." Shikuro grinned at Ev, and the latter couldn't help but chuckled at his enthusiasm.

"How about we go meet Ena and ask her for more details?" Ev stated. Shikuro agreed as they both went outside with tavern as their destination.

They were met with eye-blinding whiteness of snow as it blanketed the stone road, plants, light posts and the roofs of neighboring houses in the Duchy of Schlinger- the dukedom being ruled under by the Duke, whose goes by the name 'Drake'.

"The tavern is near by the gate, right? Yosh! We better go now then!" Without waiting for a reply nor telling a warning, Shikuro grabbed Ev's sleeves and pulled him to follow as Ev almost tripped over the gaps of bricks of the road.

"H-hey, slow down!"

"Finally, you two have arrived!" The blonde girl with pigtails exclaimed to the two newcomers outside, next to the entrance of the tavern.

"Sorry, Ena-san, but Ev-kun overslept." Shikuro apologized with a chuckle as Ev looked away to hide his embarrassment.

"Well, this will be your first quest. So you shouldn't fall asleep on it." Ena faced Ev with squinted eyes, and he quietly apologized to her, in which she also quietly accepted.

"The quest is to collect herbs for that old man Chip! He's in bad condition right now, so we need to go to Stigma, the Village of Destruction." Ev perked up when he heard the name of location, and Shikuro questioned Ena on his behalf.

"Why not Aloe Vera? Those can be found everywhere."

"They are the plants that heal various injuries and illnesses, yes," Ena nodded, "but we need these medicinal herbs as ingredients for his medicine. These can only be found in the mine of the village's underground factory."

Ev understood, so he nodded without any complaints, yet with reluctance. Shikuro stared at his friend before he nodded to Ena as well.

"Alright! Let's go!" Ena fisted her hand to the air with a huge grin before she scampered to the gate of Duchy of Schlinger as Ev and Shikuro tried to catch her up.

"Ah, hello there Ena." The soldier, who is posted by the gate entrance, greeted to Ena after she ran up to him.

"Greetings to you too, Bride." Ena smirked while the guard seemed to roll his eyes under his helmet.

"Going to another adventure I see." Bride looked around as he seemingly searching for someone besides Ena, but he saw two men coming instead.

"And those two?" The guard pointed at their direction, and Ena waved her hand off. "They're with me."

"I've never seen these two left went beyond this gate, so I supposed they're not explorers yet."

Ena nodded. "Right, but that's why I gave them a first quest to accept for experience as they already finished the Rite of Passage. They are insistent to help old man Chip too."

The guard hummed as he checked out the 'not-yet-explorers' features. "They seemed well-built." He turned to Ena. "Alright, but you better supervise them. After all, they have not yet been blessed by God."

"Of course, or else I will be irresponsible to let them be, especially after offering them their quest. And being irresponsible means failing as an explorer, the job to be responsible and fix every problems."

Afterwards, Bride accepted the permission and let the trio exited the Duchy of Schlinger as they stepped afoot the Himalayas and Grass Field, the change from snow to greeneries.

\--- AS ---

"Before we go to Stigma, I need to test you guys to see if you're capable on fighting as the Underground Factory is infested with mamonos." They both climbed down the stairs with fading snow covered steps.

"Good thing that one of you is well-equipped with a sword." Ena eyed on Ev's sword in his sheath.

"Y-yeah, well... We don't have enough zells to buy." Shikuro muttered.

"And being explorer will change that, people will give you zells as a reward for being problem solver." Ena smirked as she placed her hands on hips as they finally reached the bottom.

Grasses being crushed under by their boots along with the leaves from the trees danced along with the wind with the waves crashed on the bottom of the nearby cliff with smell of saltiness and woodiness passed through under their nose.

"Now, do you see those Gerumis over there?"

She pointed at the two Gerumis aimlessly walking around the field near by the tree at the distance. "Engage battle with them." Ena ordered.

Ev and Shikuro nodded before they got separated.

Ev pulled out his sword as he faced against the Gerumi while he could see Shikuro battled against other Gerumi at the near distance, took a deep breath. Gerumi isn't really challenging mamono that even beginner explorers could easily defeated them with few hits.

But Ena is testing their body and skill, not their battle. A test.

Ev placed his left foot forward and his right foot backward with his hips faced towards the enemy. Hands gripped on the sword. Physically and mentally prepared himself to have a fight.

Gerumi used its magic as it summoned a blue ball above its head before it threw it to him, and it managed to hit him as Ev mistakenly didn't prepare himself for the pain.

Ev dashed for it and slashed the Gerumi with his sword, and based from its weakened expression, it must've dealt good amount of damage. Gerumi distanced itself and was about to do a headbutt with its whole body launched, but the swordsman quickly dodged with a sidestep, turned himself around and cut down his enemy with his sword.

Gerumi fainted before it disappeared as the ball of light appeared its place before it went somewhere else.

Ev let out a breath and looked at Shikuro's battle. It seemed he doesn't have any troubles as he defeated the other Gerumi with his only Lightning skill.

Ena clapped for them and grinned. "Great job! As expected from my potential rival!"

"What? Rival?" Shikuro tilted his head as he walked near to them.

"I think you two can handle fighting the mamonos in underground factory." Ena ignored as she pointed uphill. "The village is right over there, so let's go!"

Ena ran up as Shikuro sighed and turned to his partner.

"Well, shall we?"

\--- AS ---

Through the north of Himalayas and Grass Field, and there, they were behold by the sight of once beautiful village to only be destructed years ago. Every building is in worn state and lacked of life. Not a single person was in such place, except for three who are in the quest.

Ev still does not sit well with it.

"The mine is right over there." Ena pointed, but she dashed off again before the two men could speak. Ev took the lead and Shikuro tailed behind him. They both climbed up the grassy slopes and met up with Ena, who is waiting for them by the entrance of the underground factory.

"Remember, this mine is infested of Mamonos, so you better make sure you two prepared for it. It would be faster if we're separated, but we must be in close distance, in case one of us needs help." Ev and Shikuro nodded. Ev held the handle of the sheathed sword while Shikuro held up his hand and opened up his palm with the ball of lightning crackled before it fades away.

They entered the mine of underground factory.

As moments passed, Ena decided to go deeper while the other two were still in the first room, searched for any medicinal herbs.

"Did you find anything Shikuro-kun?" Ev asked as he scavenged at the corner.

"N-no, not yet." Shikuro replied, but it's a little lie as his hand gripped on some kind of red cloth as he stored it in his own satchel and continued to search on another spot. With little gasp, he found the medicinal herb, carefully dug it out from the soil with his bare hands.

"Ev-kun! We found-" Shikuro turned around, only to see a giant rabbit mamono faced down on him, paralyzed from fear as his legs won't obey his command, watched the mamono is about to strike him with its wooden shield.

Ev already turned around when he heard his name and saw his partner is in danger, let his instincts took over. The time went so slow for him as he dashed forward to protect him from the attack and took a tremendous hit by the wooden shield.

He heard Shikuro screamed for his name before he blacked out.

"EV-KUN!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't write a chapter for LUF, so yeah... That will be in long hiatus, so sorry for having such irresponsible fanfic writer.
> 
> But I got into addiction of Alchemia Story. A mobile JRPG/MMORPG game, and can we just talk about how good the customization system is? Like, out of all mobile games, this one takes the cake.
> 
> However, the translation isn't pretty great as there are moments where I'm completely confused, but I don't care because YOME is precious and wanted to see more chapters.
> 
> This is a risk I'm willing to write for. I wanted to write a story, but with my OCs in it. It's tricky, especially YOME has their personality, but I had to, especially being in quarantined for God knows how long!
> 
> No beta reader btw, so this will be shitty story haha!


	2. Our Oaths

_Ugh... Where... am I?_

Ev regained his conscious and groaned as his body felt like he got hit by an oxcart, looked around to see he's in the field of flowers. He is struck with the nostalgia.

_It smells like old times..._

"Welcome. You are now off to journey, you brave child!" Ev pushed himself up when he heard a voice and saw old man looked down on him. He noticed a hand being held out for him, to which he gladly accepted it and stood up, got better look on the old man, who seemed very familiar.

"I'm Ediall." The old man named Ediall introduced himself.

"My name is-"

"There's no need for introduction. I am simply here to guide you of what it takes to be the hero." Ev raised his eyebrow as he was about to question before Ediall took control of their conversation.

"I once aspired to be the hero and set out on a journey like many young explorers." Ediall turned around as he gazed up, and Ev followed to see the village above.

_Is this... Stigma?_

"But now I am the mayor of this village."

_Ah... that's why you looked familiar..._

"The alchemy have changed people's lives," Ediall faced him, "but not people's reasons."

"For those who have become adults, they must make their own journey." Ev remembered these words.

"In this world, you _must be strong to survive_." Ediall's words and Ev's thoughts synchronized on saying this particular sentence. Ediall pulled out a sword, "take this sword."

Ev simply stared at him, "are you sure?" Ediall didn't reply and still insisted for Ev to take it, so the latter complied as he grabbed the handle, checked on the blade as the sun struck down its light upon it.

"This is the legendary sword wielded by the legendary hero, Sunseed." Ediall explained. "Now, you will be in charge on wielding 'Rizuvot'." Ediall stepped back. Ev turned his attention to him. The old man suddenly pulled out an iron sword from his sheath, and surprised the younger man for his action.

"A hero's sword..." Ediall pointed his sword to Ev along the blade gleamed its edges on his direction.

"You think you can handle it?" Ediall, the village mayor who aspired to be the hero, slashed with his sword's edged blade on the air, invited the challenger for a battle. Ev, the soon-to-be explorer, whom is obligated to wield the gifted Rizuvot, gripped on his sword with flowers swayed from his swing.

"Challenge yourself here!"

Ediall charged on. Ev reflexively went for blocking any incoming attacks as he raised his sword. But instead of having their swords clashing, Ediall leg swept Ev's legs down for him to tumble down. Yet Ediall distanced himself by retracting his steps and let Ev have his balance as he heard him groan and saw the glare.

"I never said it's a swordfight. If you manage to hit me once, you're good to go." Ediall smirked.

Despite his age, this old man has his swiftness.

"Good to know,"

Ev used the opportunity to have his turn to attack as he ran towards him and raised his sword for a downward strike. And, it clashed against the iron sword as Ediall blocked it, with the edges of their blades grinding against each other along their revealed gnashing teeth.

"For having first time battle with the real sword, you're not bad." Ediall kept his smirk as he budged his sword forward. Ev gave out small yelp and exert his muscles to not give out. "T-thanks, I've been training for it." Ev tried to push him, but Ediall remained standing, like the force doesn't have an effect on immovable object .

_How strong is he?!_

Ev knew there won't be anything happen, if he remained his position and not having any opening, so he jumped backwards. Ediall did a counter by dashing towards him. Ev tried to foresee for his incoming attack, and yet he was kicked at his sides. Ev gasped from pain as he gripped on his sides, let go his sword and let it drop on the grassy grounds.

"If you cannot lay a single hand on me, you won't be able to survive beyond the gates of dukedom." Ediall stepped back, away from stunned challenger.

Ev shuddered from pain and let go his sides, placed his hands on the... ground... to push himself up whilst grabbing the sword. _... He didn't say I need to use my sword for a hit, right?_

And he ran for it. Towards to his opponent.

Ediall seemed he's about to dodge.

But hell, does that matter?

A handful of dirt in his hand was thrown on Ediall's face with his free hand. Ediall closed his eyes.

Got you!

His legs wept Ediall down to the ground, forcefully snatched the sword from his hand.

"A-ah, you beat and disarmed me." Ediall rubbed the dirt the off from his face, allowed to see as Ev helped him up and returned the iron sword back to its owner.

"You truly have the potential to be a hero!" Ediall chuckled and patted Ev's back. "You will be the one to create a new legend."

"That will be the... Other travelers and I..." Ediall shook his head and sighed, smiled wrinkly to Ev. "...No, never mind... You don't have to be a hero. You can live on with that sword and power." Ediall turned around with his back shown to Ev as the wind blew around with the petals danced above. "Don't forget us. This village... and the forefathers who dreamt of being heroes."

_Ev-kun..._

"When the time comes when no one knows this land," Ediall, again, gazed up, "that will be our real destruction."

_Please..._

"Life is a treasure." Ediall didn't fully turn his head to Ev, yet enough to be in his field of vision. "And in order to live, you will need that sword. Don't forget about it..."

_Wake up!_

\--- AS ---

"Hello~? Are you alive? Say something if you're dead!" Ev groaned as he heard a girl's voice calling out for him. His eyes were fluttered open and looked up to see a girl with... cat ears?

"Ah, you're alive!" The cat-ear girl exclaimed with a surprised look on her face.

"Of course I'm alive! If I'm dead, how can I tell you that I'm dead?" Ev mumbled as he remained to lay down.

"Huh? You couldn't tell me if you were dead?" The cat-ear girl moved her hand at the back of her neck, seemingly sheepish. "I know, but if someone asks you 'Are you dead?', apparently you come back to life."

"I-I... don't know about that." Ev sighed.

"I don't know why you're all slumped over like that, but cheer up!" The cat-ear girl grinned. "Look, I'll give you this!"

The light suddenly appeared as Ev had to close his eyes and noticed something on his body. I _feel... refreshed...?_ _This must be her magic._

"Just cheer up. C'mon, stand, stand!" She pulled Ev's arm to forcefully helping him to stand up, and the latter reluctantly complied on her command and stood up. "It looks your partner is fighting over there. Why don't you go help? Ok then! Bye-bye!"

"Wait, what's your name?!" And Ev blinked, she suddenly disappeared as he searched for her, left him confused...

...

The room around him started to disperse to nothingness in slow motion.

...

And he lost his sense when everything went white.

\--- AS ---

How many times has Ev groaned from pain? Maybe three or four? Well... this is little different.

Ev groaned as his mind is messed up after he had two(?) different dreams in a row. He cannot be blamed for it.

"...Stay strong, okay!" Ev opened his eyes a little and squinted to see someone's boots faced to him, felt his back slumped over something, like a wall, to support him. "Please...one more times... open your eyes...!" Ev heard a growl nearby, possibly from a mamono, and it must be angered from something. The person, obviously, heard it and switched their attention.

"Monster incoming... I must protect...!"

 _This voice..._ Ev blinked his eyes before he stood up to see...

"...Shikuro-kun..." Upon hearing his voice, Shikuro switched back his attention to him, completely shocked and worn down. "Eh?! Y-you should be unconscious, so... how?" Shikuro questioned. But before he could get his answer, the same growl appeared again, they both glanced to the big rabbit mamono wearing a wooden armor and equipped with only wooden shield.

_That must be a rabber._

"It's coming!" Shikuro clicked his tongue and fixed his gaze on Ev, thought something over before he nodded to himself. "... I can't do this alone... but with two of us, we can't lose...! We'll defeat the monster!"

Its footsteps were getting closer.

"It's gonna be okay, we can do this!" Shikuro held out his hand with his exigent resolve and determination on his eyes. "Okay, let's do it. Give me your hand! This will be our oath as partners!" Ev gaped at Shikuro before he smiled and accepted it as he clasped his hand and shook.

_The oath as partners huh..._

The rabber slammed its shield on the ground, readied itself to attack them.

"Look, it's here! Ready? Don't get nervous." Ev took out the gifted sword from his sheath, prepared himself to engage in battle.

"I would say the same to you. You looked worn out." Shikuro shook his head to deny on being tired.

"I will use my lightning technique on your sword. But we have to match our feelings for it to work. I'm not sure if this will work, but we have to try. And in a loud voice, yell my name!" Ev nodded. But he gave one more look on Shikuro to find him smiling brightly.

"What is it?" Ev asked. Shikuro flinched and rubbed his nape sheepishly.

"Uh, nah, it's nothing!" Before Ev could do or say anything, Shikuro turned to focus on the enemy, he just shrugged and positioned himself with his sword in his grip.

\--- AS ---

The mamono called Rabber decided to charge its way to them, like a bulldozer. Ev and Shikuro sidestepped away from its path, and the rabber stopped its track when it realized it missed. Ev took the opportunity to attack while it's turning around as he ran up and slammed his sword but...

_The rabber's wooden armor!_

"Watch out!" Shikuro warned. Ev jumped back just in time as the rabber tried to slam him down with the shield.

"That armor." Ev muttered to his partner.

"Yeah, it must be resistant on magic and physical attacks." The rabber summoned an earth magic as the rock appeared on its paw and threw it on Ev. Ev tried to block it with his sword, gritted his teeth as the force of its throw barely moved him.

"We need to do the combo." Shikuro suggested. "It has to be only way."

The rabber isn't smart luckily as it is about to charge at them, gave them more time to think up a plan.

"After we dodge, we will attack it from behind." Ev instructed. Shikuro nodded.

The rabber slammed its shield down on the ground, built up its speed as it ran in place before it pushed the shield along the grinding sound of dirt being dragged. Ev and Shikuro rolled away from the adjacent of its charge.

"SHIKURO!" Ev yelled his name as he stood up quickly. Shikuro breathed and focused his energy to his hand.

Muscles being prickled. Words coming out. Static noises filled up the room. Light overwhelmed their sight.

Shikuro opened his eyes with the ball of lightning appeared on his hand and threw it before it disappeared by the fingers.

They could feel it.

Ev swung his sword around before he raised it up, and the blade is suddenly blanketed with spark of lightning. With one swift motion, he swung it down. The lightning disappeared.

The two partners yelled out. "BLITZSPEER!"

The bolt of lightning has struck down upon the rabber as it shrieked in pain and just barely... barely enough to defeat it as the rabber fainted on the ground before it disappeared.

"Whew," Shikuro breathed out as he felt himself relaxed, "I was worried for a sec, but we pulled through."

"Um..." Ev started. Shikuro looked at him with a smile. "What happened? And why are we here?"

"What...? You don't know what's going on?" Ev shook his head. Thankfully, his **new partner** is kind enough to answer without questioning. "Well, we were searching around and the mamono ambushed us." Shikuro frowned. "Suddenly, you guarded me and took the hit. I thought you... we were done for..."

Ev let out a breath and folded his arms. "While I was knocked out, in a dream, there was a girl saved me by healing with her magic."

"In a dream... A girl saved you...?" Shikuro muttered with his raised eyebrow, but he nodded despite his confusion. "I don't know, but I'm glad you're okay."

"What do you think of Blitzspeer?" Ev questioned. He swore he will be blinded of how bright it is when Shikuro widened his smile. "Ah! That's right! Our combo was great! It's difficult to strike it, but I really think that we can fight together!"

"Really? I think so too." Ev smiled as he meant it. Shikuro gave him a warming gaze and whispered, "so, you really are..."

"Ah! There you are! I came since I heard a ruckus!" Two men looked at the direction of the voice to see Ena rushing towards them. Ena inspected the atmosphere between them and smirked as she realized something. "Wait... I hope I wasn't the third wheel." Shikuro massaged the back of his neck sheepishly as he chuckled. Ev said nothing about her comment though.

Ena decided to break the ice. "Um, I found these herbs... Here you go!" Ena gave the bag full of herbs and winked at Shikuro. "So, enjoy!"

And then Ena left.

Shikuro blushed as he brushed his hand against his back spiky hair, looked at Ev as he chuckled.

"Um... shall we leave?" Shikuro said.

\--- AS ---

Ev and Shikuro finally freed from the underground factory as they were met with the smell of breeze along the sunlight beamed down on them and the familiar sight of buildings in Stigma, the Village of Destruction. They saw Ena waiting for them by the entrance.

"So, tell me what happened." Ena inquired while they are climbing down the slopes. After Ev explained the whole thing, Ena stopped, and the other two also stopped. Ena seemed to have sparkles on her eyes. "Wow, you guys defeated that amazing one! I didn't know there was the big!"

"Sorry for making you worry about it, Ena-san." Shikuro apologized.

"Well, you don't want to be defeated by your rival, right here, right now." Ena grinned.

"R-rival?"

"Yes! I feel like, we have some connection... Even we are born again, it seems that our connection still remains..."

"Eh?!"

"Not!" Ena smirked. "It just feels like that. But don't you also think we want some romance as adventurer?"

"Haha..." Shikuro rolled his eyes, yet he landed his sight on Ev, who seemed oblivious about it. Ena caught him though and smirked at him knowingly.

"Well, I got the herbs I wanted, so I'm going back to the tavern! Enjoy you two!" Ena left them alone again as she rushed away to exit the village.

Shikuro just cleared his throat as he got Ev's attention, and he asked a question to his partner with faint blush.

"I don't know about that... right?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Today I found out that I suck at writing fighting scenes.
> 
> After 305 days of no croqs challenge, I finally maxed all jobs. I am insane for doing it, but hell, I did it with my 1230 croqs in my bag! Lol, time to get the AW.


	3. To Be Explorers

After their mission to get medicinal herbs from Underground Factory of Stigma, the Village of Destruction, Ev and Shikuro both exited and returned to Duchy of Schlinger as Bride, the guard by the gate, nodded at them and allowed them to enter, and they saw Ena waiting by the entrance of tavern nearby.

"We're back Ena-san." Shikuro said. That got Ena's attention to them and grinned, particularly at Shikuro.

"Welcome back! Have fun on the way?" Ena questioned while giving a 'not-so-subtle' side eye to Ev as the latter noticed her, yet remained indifferent. Shikuro also remained silent, however, as he was embarrassed to answer, "so what happened to the herbs? Chip can't just eat it, so you need to compose it to medicine."

"That... I don't know how to..." Shikuro muttered as he gotten over his state.

"Really? Then I'll give you my recipe." Ena rummaged in her belt bag before pulling out a roll of paper and handed it to Shikuro. "Better take a good look. I will check on old man Chip." Ena entered the tavern inside.

Shikuro unrolled it and met with a neat handwriting. "Secret medicine...It is said to hold the power of universe and guides the body to health." After reading the procedures, it's actually simple recipe that one would question if this medicine indeed lives up to its description, but he does not question, especially to the explorer who has more experience.

"So? Can you make it?" Ev asked as he placed his hand on Shikuro's shoulder. And Shikuro smiled at him reassuringly, "yes, I think so. Can you give me the medicinal herbs?" Ev nodded, trusted his confidence and gave the pouch of medicinal herbs to him, and Shikuro gladly took it and began to synthesize for secret medicine.

After few minutes, Shikuro finished and grinned for his accomplishment. "Alright! The synthesization is done!" Shikuro almost dropped the medicine as Ena suddenly opened the tavern's door. "That old man Chip is standing in the kitchen!" Ena grumbled.

"What?!" Shikuro exclaimed. "He's still working even though he's sick?!"

"This is why the tavern can't go on without me, right?" Ena shrugged with a smirk and caught a sight of medicine in Shikuro's hand. "Looks like you're done, we better bring these meds for that stubborn old man. C'mon, let's go inside!" Ena entered first before Ev and Shikuro followed in.

\---AS---

Chip stopped wiping the counter with a cloth as he heard the footsteps to find them. "Hey, you guys seemed to be alright. I was worried." Chip directed the question to Ev and Shikuro as he noticed Ev seemed little beaten up.

"You should be sleeping on your bed, not working in the kitchen!" Shikuro scolded as Ev chuckled. _What a mom..._

"Nah, I can handle it and standing in the kitchen. I can just have my frying pan to cook, and I'll be good."

"It's not good when you just fall down!" Ena asserted as she sighed. "Just drink your medicine."

"Thanks! That helps a lot!"

Shikuro gave the secret medicine to Chip and hopefully he will go back to his bed... Or so they thought as Chip laughed with energy after he swallowed the medicine and hydrated with water.

"The medicines are working! Now I can work for 24 hours!" Shikuro and Ena groaned with Ev pitied for them.

"Although I'm retired, I was an explorer. I'd like to face some challenges."

 _Challenging yourself to fall down on the floor,_ Ev snarked in his thoughts.

"I'm glad you guys got back safely from collecting herbs for me." Chip smiled broadly and folded his arms. "You guys fought a mamono right? That's a pretty big deal."

"The mamono they fought was actually a rabber, which is pretty big, so I will accept them as rivals now." Ena smirked at her new 'rivals'.

"You guys already done with the Rite of Passage right? Then you guys should embark on an adventure journey, innit?" Chip asked rhetorically. "One is destined to head out on a journey when become an adult. People around in the world leave their home, and head out with a weapon in hand."

"Yes," Ena looked at Chip with a smirk. "everyone..."

Chip pretended to cough, even though he still has a sickness that he is recovering from. "Well, there are also ones who run back home too, but only when you are an explorer. Right, Ena?"

Ena grinned as she fist pumped. "Yeah, so don't let me guide, and let's just compete against each other! That's what makes alcohol special after a battle too!"

"She may not seemed like it, but Ena is a great explorer, and I'm telling the truth." Chip stated.

"Journey... Huh..." Ev mumbled as he is having thoughts about it.

"So, can I buy you guys a drink for a new departure? I owe you all today." Chip offered.

"Wait, me too?" Ena asked.

"Of course! You helped these two after all." Chip affirmed as Ena grinned widely wit her eyes sparkled on the prospect of drinking alcohol.

"Yay!"

 _...Isn't it too early?_ Ev and Shikuro thought.

After rounds of drinking alcohol, Ena is in a drunk stupor as she waved a tankard in her hand. "One more, just one more... Cheers~! The world is my training, so cheers to the road of gloryyy! Wee~!" Ena sang as she almost hit Shikuro, who sits beside her, with her waving tankard on his face.

Shikuro sighed while dodging and weaving from incoming alcohol to his face. "Ena-san, you're drunk..."

"Exploring is like- Exploring is like, more fun with a rival! Ya know? You get to like-- 'I'mma show ya!' And that's like, awesome, right?"

"Huh..."

"I wanna have a hot competition with you two! It'll be good for us, right?!" Ena pouted as she suddenly threw the tankard to Shikuro, who barely dodged for it, and the person next to him, Ev, managed to duck in time.

"See! You two dodged it! You guys are perfect to be my rival!"

"Not through throwing tankard to our faces!" Ev exclaimed.

Chip sighed as he wiped the floor where the tankard landed with a mop. "She is a bad drinker or something. She also doesn't have many friends."

"No! I'm looking for my destined rival! Not friend! Rival! Got it?!" Ena pouted at Chip.

Shikuro rolled his eyes as he decided to ignore the bickering between Ena and Chip, and he turned to Ev. "You seemed to be thinking on having a journey, right?"

"Yeah."

"If you are in to it, then I'll be there by your side." Shikuro smiled. Chip overheard them and joined in while ignoring Ena's tantrum as she hit him on his arm.

"Exploring isn't just about fighting- It's about what you can and can't do now, and knowing and evolving yourself. Sooner or later, you'll be to journey. It will be better to start earlier than others. I'll support you, if you're off to journey." Chip shared his wisdom and laughed as he added, "and also It will be great for you to help out with this restaurant though."

"Chip..." Ev stared at him as he is impressed. "And also we will not do the restaurant part **again**."

"It's worth a try. You two did amazingly job for part-timers, especially when you were a bartender Ev."

"We need zells."

"If you have decided to go on a journey... Your very first quest will be to take me to the lodge." Ena pointed at them as she unsuccessfully pushed Chip to the side.

"Don't take this drunk seriously. Don't worry about it." Chip sighed.

\---AS---

"Hmm, so what are we going to do next?" Shikuro asked after they exited the tavern.

"We need to get zells to get some equipment for our journey." Ev answered.

"Oh! I heard Lucce is in need of mushrooms. Good thing I got some mushrooms while we were on our way back." Shikuro held up a small sack filled with said mushrooms. "Let's go to Lucce's market then!" Shikuro ran off as Ev followed him. _Wait for me!_

"Good afternoon Lucce-san!" Shikuro waved his hand as he arrived to the market place while Ev finally caught up to him. "We brought you some mushrooms."

"Good afternoon to you too Shikuro, Ev. And mushrooms?" Shikuro opened up the sack as Lucce took a peek. "Those are some fine mushrooms you have there! It smell good too. Must be rich." Lucce snapped off as she pushed back her pink-colored hair strands. "U-um yeah..."

"What's wrong?" Ev raised his eyebrow.

"Nothing. I was wondering if I could buy them from you for a little higher price, but..."

"The normal price is okay."

"Really? If so, then can you give me a minute?" Lucce asked, but didn't wait for the answer as she took out her mini notebook and started to calculate the price.

"I will take a look around in the market." Shikuro said as he passed the sack of mushrooms to Ev, not even bother to hear whether Ev accepted or not.

 _Geez, what's with not waiting for my_ answer? Ev sighed.

Afterwards, Lucce gave good amount of zells to Ev along with something extra. Ev raised his eyebrow from a given sack that felt warm to his hand. "What's this?" Ev opened up the sack and checked to see potatoes inside.

"These are my potatoes from my home. They're a specialty in this country, so please eat them on your journey. They're boiled, so you can eat it like that!"

"They look delicious." Ev said, but his face says otherwise though.

Lucce giggled as she doesn't seemed offended. "Still not good at expressing huh? Well, come again! I'll be waiting for those mushrooms." Ev blushed in embarrassment for being 'not good at expressing', but he ignored it and about to call for his partner to leave, yet Shikuro stared intensely on items displayed on the mark, so Ev waited until he heard an 'Oh!'.

"Did you find something?" Ev questioned as he approached next to Shikuro, who flinched in surprise.

"U-um, no, nothing! Really... Um... Let's just go...!" Shikuro turned around and went somewhere.

"Um... okay..." Ev is completely confused and not aware of how red his partner's face is.

Lucce seemed amused of their interaction though.

"Ahhhhh!"

Ev recognized the wailing voice and turned to see the same cat-eared girl near by the entrance of marketplace as Shikuro stopped on his tracks when they were about to go to church. "What's wrong Ev-kun?" Shikuro asked and followed Ev's facing direction.

"Ugh... If I yell, my stomach... That's it... I'm dying... Guh..." The girl with cat ears fainted before she stood up again. "Oh yeah, I don't die because I'm a mamono!"

"She seems really hungry." Shikuro said with concern, and Ev suddenly went near to her as Shikuro came after him. And as they've gotten nearer to her, she began to sniff around for an aroma and turned to them. "Mmm... Smells like boiled potatoes! Gimme! Gimme~!" The cat-eared girl begged before she stopped to look at Ev.

"Huh...? Uhh... Have I met this person?" The cat-eared girl muttered.

"What? You know him?" Shikuro questioned.

"Did I meet him somewhere? Uh...?" She went to her own thinking world before she shook her head. "All you humans look the same! I dunno!" She huffed before her stomach loudly rumbled again.

"Ughhh... I'm dying! I'm hungry~! Gimme~! Potato~!"

"Why are you so hungry? You could buy food on tavern or marketplace."

"Because humans won't sell food to mamonos!" They widened their eyes as they thought the same thing. _She's actually a mamono._ A mamono looking like a human. It's rare to see that type of mamono, but the cat ears should, obviously, give away.

"Or because you don't have money?" Shikuro said as he was recovered from his shock.

"I have a little!" The girl showed her pouch of zells for proof. "But they say humans are first priority! Well, if a monster gets a taste of it, then they can't let go of it."

Ev and Shikuro looked around to see some people around them. Human giving food to mamono is not a good view for them, especially due to the history in this dukedom.

"Then, we shouldn't let it go either..." Shikuro reluctantly muttered.

"All humans say that! I'm going to die. I haven't eaten for so long!" She pouted.

"Isn't there another way...?" Shikuro pondered. Ev hummed as he is thinking up for a way to help without getting dirty eyes from the people, and he lighted up when he came to his conclusion. "Hey Shikuro-kun."

"Huh, what? Um, yeah?"

"Why not we," Ev gazed down at the ground. "let go the potatoes then?"

"Good idea Ev-kun!" Shikuro revealed a sack of boiling potatoes and turned his back, tried to seem unaware that the mamono girl is there. "Ugh, these potatoes are so heavy! We can't we just leave 'em here. What should we do?" The cat-eared girl seemed confused.

"Wait, did we drop some potatoes? It's too heavy, maybe we shouldn't pick 'em up." Shikuro grinned at Ev after he 'accidentally' dropped the sack. Ev unable to find himself to laugh since Shikuro did try his best.

"Wha? Really?!" The girl's eyes sparkled and filled with hope.

"I don't know. We just dropped it." Shikuro shrugged.

"Yay! It's my favorite! Thanks for the food!" The girl quickly snatched the sack of potatoes from the ground and grabbed one of potatoes inside before she quickly snarfed the boiled potato down.

"Wait.. If you eat too fast, you might get choke..." Shikuro's motherly nature has shown itself once again, but he was ignored as the girl won't stop eating.

"Mmm~ It's so delicious~! I can just stuff it in endlessly!"

She wiped off the bits of her food that spread on her mouth after she ate all of the potatoes in the sack and grinned at them. "Whew! That was so good! You guys are good humans! There so many bullies... But you two are different!"

"Why are you bullied?" Shikuro questioned worriedly.

Ev, however, already knew the reason why.

"Um... It's because I'm a mamono."

"Oh..." Shikuro realized as he sneaked a peek on Ev. "Right..."

"Yes, that's right... But there are bad mamonos too! Apparently, I'm being thought of that way. There are both good and bad mamonos. Just like humans!" She ranted before she stopped when she realized she's getting angry. "Stop! Stop! I will get hungry when I'm angry!"

She bowed to them. "Anyway, I better go now, thanks for the yummy potatoes!"

"Wait, what's your name?" Ev asked, finally got a chance to know the name of the person who saved him back in the factory.

"Name? Well, monsters don't have names, so call me pretty girl! Some people call me Mamono-chan though, so that's fine too."

"Mamono-chan... right." Ev nodded.

"Thank you! That hits the spot! I hope we meet again somewhere. Bye bye~!" Mamono-chan waved to them before she left as she walked away from them.

"Ah, g-goodbye!" Shikuro shouted for Mamono-chan to hear him.

"Shall we go to the departure ceremony?" Ev asked.

Shikuro glanced at the market before he sighed and nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : Holy shit, I'm alive. Fucking hell, I really hate AW quests because I calculated required zells and shizz. My stingy ass hates this quest lol.


End file.
